Inexperienced ASU offensive line faces test

The Arizona State offensive line hears the criticism.

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After the unit’s showing last season, the departure of key players like Brandon Rodd and Mike Pollak and group’s relative inexperience, many critics pointed to this position as one of the major weaknesses for the Sun Devils.

And while the competition hasn’t been great, there are other weightier concerns than what has been happening in the trenches.

Rudy Carpenter was sacked 55 times last season, but he’s been sacked only five times through three games this year. The Arizona State passing game is ranked ninth nationally.

The Sun Devils’ running game has been more pedestrian — 117 yards per game and 3.7 yards per carry — but it’s been done without starter Keegan Herring for most of the season.

“We take (the criticism) as motivation,” said left guard Shawn Lauvao, one of just two returning starters. “Everybody is going to say what they have to say, but all you can do is take care of business. All we have to do is our job, not listen to what everybody has to say.”

Lauvao admits there is room for improvement. The group is attempting to mesh, and some of the younger players are still adapting to playing on the bigger stage.

“They have to understand that you have to have that intensity and be focused the whole time,” Lauvao said. “It can’t just be for a substantial amount of the game. You have to be ready to go at all times.

“The mind-set of a lot of younger guys is that they’re there already. They still have a lot to learn. Fortunately we have some leaders (to teach the youngsters), and you can see them starting to come into their own.”

Tonight’s game against No. 3 Georgia will be unlike anything the younger players have seen before.

Northern Arizona, Stanford and UNLV don’t come close to matching Georgia’s personnel.

“They keep things pretty vanilla on defense,” Lauvao said. “It’s nothing we haven’t seen before. The thing is, they just like keeping it basic because they have really good athletes over there.”

“It’s not what they line in, it’s who lines up where,” Arizona State coach Dennis Erickson added. “And the guys they have lining up are awfully good.”

While Georgia has unquestionable talent on the defensive side of the ball, the pass rush has been inconsistent. Last week, the Bulldogs registered just two sacks, and both came on blitzes by linebackers.

“I really think (we can attack Georgia),” Lauvao said. “We’ve got a great quarterback, a good running back, a great group of wide receivers. We’ve got good athletes over here, too. Basically it’ll be our athletes against their athletes. We’ve just got to take advantage of the opportunities we get.”

And those opportunities will only be there if the offensive line gives those plays time to develop.

“We’re really going to find out (about ourselves),” Lauvao said.